ISLAMABAD (APP): Pakistan’s government was fully aware of the plan of India’s further development on the waters of western rivers, Senate was informed on Tuesday. Responding to questions during the Questions Hour session in Senate, in a written reply, Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi said that the steps are continually being taken to check the features of all of the Indian projects in accordance with the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, .
He said that the information which have formally been provided by India to Pakistan in order to see whether or not the design of such projects falls in accordance with the requirements of Indus Waters Treaty 1960. In all cases where the violations are being noticed, he said that the issues are being taken up with India for bilateral resolution at the level of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC).
In case of no convergence at the level of PIC, he said that further steps are being taken such as the reference of the matter between both of the governments, as provided for in the Treaty.
In case of failure at the level of both the Governments, he said that the case where needed are referred to the World Bank for appointment of Neutral Experts or the Court of Arbitration as per the provisions of the Treaty.
The recent cases of Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant and Ratle Hydroelectric Plant were one of such instances where the technical objections on both of these projects have eventually been taken for third party arbitration.
The minister, however, said that the issue was currently pending with the World Bank for the next step.
Senate refers three government bills to committee: The Senate of Pakistan here on Tuesday referred three government bills to the relevant committees for further consideration and deliberation.
The bills include, The Pak University of Engineering and Emerging Technology University Bill, 2022, the Protection of Parents Bill, 2022, and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2022]. All the bills were tabled by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan in the House. Chairman Standing Committee on Interior, Mohsin Aziz presented a report of the committee on the subject matter of Starred Question No.56, asked by Senator Kamran Murtaza on December 29, 2021, regarding the policy of the Federal Government to control incidents of car lifting/ theft across the country in coordination with the provincial governments.
The chairman, Standing Committee on Interior has also presented a report of the committee on a point of public importance raised by Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar on December 27, 2021 regarding the incident of killing of Wajiha Swati, a Pakistani origin US citizen.
